Update: American Apparel Spares Model from Photoshop Disaster, the Horse Was Not As Lucky

Usually it's models' bodies that get the photoshop treatment, but as this recent American Apparel flub proves, not even animal's bodies are safe from overzealous retouchers.
Maybe the retoucher was just a big Godfather fan.

Update: Well, color us surprised--nay (ha!), shocked. Turns out the horse's body was not a victim of photoshop after all.

American Apparel's creative director Iris Alonzo was kind enough to get back to us to explain that it's merely the angle and cropping of the image that makes it appear as if the horse's body was not there. And she attached the original, un-color corrected image as proof. Who would have thunk it?

The case of the missing horse's body has been closed. Thank you American Apparel for helping to solve the mystery.

Last month, American Apparel launched a nationwide contest to find a plus-size model, in celebration of the brand's addition of XL sizes to a couple of their styles. The contest, titled "The Next Big Thing," was rife with euphemisms and jokes, which outraged many who felt that the contest was mocking, rather than celebrating plus-size women.
But no one felt stronger than Nancy Upton, who challenged American Apparel by entering the contest and submitting photos of herself gorging on food, and generally satirizing what she perceived to be the company's misconceptions about plus-size women.
Of course, Upton actually wound up receiving the most votes in the contest, and should have won but the company decided to award the title of "Next Big Thing" to other contestants.
Now, The Frisky has alerted us to a letter American Apparel's Creative Director Iris Alonzo sent to Upton, which Upton also published on her Tumblr this morning. The letter addresses both Upton's campaign against the contest, and the reason why she didn't win despite getting the most votes.